New Member Needs Advice

[Hwtezrdr]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

I trust you about 1000% more than Keystone. And sadly I’m not surprised at the run around you got or the band aid fixes we are seeing. As for myself, I’m going to take my unit to someone I TRUST to do a good job and if Keystone won’t pony up I’ll pay for it myself!! Most of the work I ca do myself anyway.



This issue is one reason our next RV may well be SOB. Granted it will cost us a LOT more. At the price point Thor is about on par quality wise and I suspect Forest River is about the same. That’s why I have been asking about New Horizons. They are very expensive but the build quality seems to warrant the cost and they listen and work with customers. They even (for a price) build custom which really appeals to us. Being able to carry our toys with us is our number one priority when looking at floor plans

We pretty much have to have a toyhauler not ready to give up on the toys just yet. Our big thing is we will move again in couple years so price is a big selling point for us, we may hold off on new house for awhile just so we don’t have to worry about 2 different places which is our issue when we leave for summers now. I know there will be maintenance just like a house but you expect it to last longer than it takes to drive off the lot.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Hwtezrdr

We pretty much have to have a toyhauler not ready to give up on the toys just yet. Our big thing is we will move again in couple years so price is a big selling point for us, we may hold off on new house for awhile just so we don’t have to worry about 2 different places which is our issue when we leave for summers now. I know there will be maintenance just like a house but you expect it to last longer than it takes to drive off the lot.

Hope I don’t get in trouble for mentioning other brands on here but it is very pertinent to this conversation!! Forgive me oh lords of the forum police!!

You won’t find a less expensive unit in the 380/381 floor plan than the Montana. Build quality is comparable to Forest River but a little lower than the much more expensive Grand Design (which has been bought out so build quality will now be questionable). New Horizons is in an entirely different league both in build quality, price plus at this point to get this floor plan from them it is a custom build $$$.

The biggest advantage to the 380/381 is the garage is longer than any of the competitors. If your hauling longer toys like kayaks, jet skis or side by sides it is the ONLY unit where they will fit (save a custom build of course).

With reasonable care you should get over 15 years of service from the Montana before you start to see serious deterioration and I’m sure there are units out there more than twice that old. Like ANY RV they don’t last forever and anyone buying one should have some good mechanical knowledge and expect occasional issues

[Hwtezrdr]

Any reason you went with the 381 over 380 does the fridge make that much difference..

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Hwtezrdr

Any reason you went with the 381 over 380 does the fridge make that much difference..

To us it did. Residential suits our use better. We don’t boon dock. Residential larger with ice maker and easier/cheaper to replace. Also any appliance tech can work on it

[biankym89]

Well I had a MOnatana 3950, the worst I ever had, and was my 5th unit. Broken refrig, exploded tires with damaged body, one slide broke a kitchen cabinet door. Low cooling capacity and worst, Keystone dont care, my best was a forest river

[tspoon]

I've purchased a 3 new rv's. I never had to take any back to the dealer. Check the service department out. There are a lot of bad service department but there are also good ones. It can make a difference between a great RV and a bad one.

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by biankym89

Well I had a MOnatana 3950, the worst I ever had, and was my 5th unit. Broken refrig, exploded tires with damaged body, one slide broke a kitchen cabinet door. Low cooling capacity and worst, Keystone dont care, my best was a forest river

So what do you have now

[saber707]

3 years in a High Country. No problems worth mentioning however, the RV industry has a terrible reputation for quality and dealers for service.

[Virginia Young]

Originally Posted by Phil P

Hi

Keystone would not allow any dealer except the selling dealer to do the warranty work on our Montana.

Phil P

This is not true. We had three different dealers work in our Big Sky. Never an issue.

[cghsatx]

Originally Posted by Hwtezrdr

My wife and I have about made our decision on a Montana High Country 380 my question is if you go and look up consumer reviews not just Keystone but any MFG of trailers it’s a nightmare would make you not even want to purchase one.

Is this just a few cases out of thousands or they that poorly made, I know you can find bad reviews on about anything. We currently have a Keystone product and have had very few issues in 4 years we have had it. Just wondering it’s scary to spend thousands on something and it not be a good product.

I was one of the gripers but got over it, and in hindsight if you go in knowing its a terrible investment but that you are buying it for other reasons than financial, and that during the first month or two, you or the shop may work on it more than you can use it, then you will eventually be OK. My advice is dont get in a hurry, definitely shop dealers/brands, and give yourself some time to get the bugs out of it or you might get discouraged or get buyers remorse. Do not believe any MSRP numbers, and whatever you pay, it will be valued at about 60% of that the second you hook it up the first time.

[simonsrf]

We bought our first Montana in 2006, and lived in it as fulltimers for 6 years. The problems you are having are the very same problems we had with our Montana then, and sounds like nothing has changed or will change.

6 years ago, we traded for a SOB, and have been very happy with the quality, service, and their helpful attitude in fixing anything not functioning properly.

[dvines]

Generally speaking, people only make negative posts whether it is movies, restaurants, mechanics, etc. You rarely hear from the myriad of satisfied customers. I picked up my rig in March. Is it perfect? No. I have made a list of minor issues that need to be corrected during the warranty period. Listen to all the good advice about the PDI. Have you purchased yet?

[richfaa]

We purchased both our Montana,s from a sort of nearby dealer that has a excellent service department . We travel all over the country and are seldom near our purchasing dealer . We have had excellent luck with Keystone customer service thus far.We call them first if we have a problem and need a dealer and they have always been excellent. So far.

[Fishin2dMax]

As a long time RV owners (new to Keystone products this year with our 2018 HC), we thought we were upgrading from SOB we owned for many years with little to no problems. Our HC has been back to the dealer 3 times so far with various issues and the discovery of new issues continues. Yes, I'm very disappointed in Keystone quality (or lack of), but I'm not sure any other brand (mass produced today) would be any different. The bottom line is it doesn't matter which brand you purchase, it's your dealer service support that makes all the difference in the overall ownership experience and enjoyment.

[Foodgod1]

There's a FB group of owners of 380/381 TH . Search 380 / 381 TH and join the group. Lots of great brains to pick...

[paulinbaja]

This is where it's at. The PDI is critical.. A good PDI will catch many of the issues. When I was selling RVs (I was fortunate to work at a dealership privately owned but fairly large and the owner cared and was in house almost every day)I explained that the unit will be back 3 times for fixes and adjustments. Note, If you can do the simple, low cost fixes yourself you will much happier.

[paiceman]

You might also look at Luxe brand. We have an Airstream TT and looking at a Montana or Luxe.

[Phil P]

with drawn

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by Virginia Young

This is not true. We had three different dealers work in our Big Sky. Never an issue.

Well Virginia Young I can only assume you are calling me a liar.

You obviously don’t know what you are talking about Keystone refused to pay any dealer that I took it to.

The selling dealer had no, none, zero qualified technicians on staff they couldn’t even change a tire without damaging the trailer.

At the end of the warranty period I did the first repair at my expense that was replacing the end walls on the big slide because Keystone had used the wrong fasteners putting it to gather, the cost to me $9,990.00. Keystone had transported the trailers serial number before and after ours to the factory to do this job but refused to do ours.

That was just the first repair that cost like that all total by the time the trailer was 18 months old I had $20,000.00 in repairs to correct similar problems.

In 2009 when I purchased this trailer I could have purchased a top of the line trailer from one of the SOB mentioned here on this forum for less than another $5,000.00 above what I paid for this trailer including the repairs to fix the production mistakes. I am referring to a company commonly referred to here as a “custom” builder.

I had to pay for these repairs up front because the qualified repair facility I used had had problems in the past with the owners of these “low end” trailers have trouble paying the repair bill.

Phil P

[kescue]

Bought 381TH year ago. Agree with others, important to find good dealer. I live in Orlando and bought my unit in Jacksonville at Camping World because of price. While it is a little over 1.5 hour drive to dealer, I will take it back to them because of the service they have provided thus far. I have owned lots of toys and yes there is always something that needs to be worked on. Heck I seem to always be doing something on my house! But, I am extremely happy with my unit. I shopped around for about 2 years, went to dealers, RV shows, internet research..... before I finally decided to buy the 381TH. Loved the layout more than the typical TH and the garage length was important to me since I wanted to haul a Harley Ultra. Also, I am the type person that for most repairs I just do it myself if it is not major. (just bought welder last month and learning to weld!)

I took a big gamble the day I bought my unit. The day I bought it, found small stress crack on side of unit door side by front slide when hooking up to leave. We took picture of it with the sales team and they noted it at the dealership. Took unit out on first trip (Orlando to Chattanooga) found a few minor issues. I took pictures of everything I found, printed the pictures out, handed it to the dealer and they used it as a fix list! On the stress crack, the dealership worked with Keystone engineering. They sent pics and Keystone said that was not right and said they needed to get into wall and find out what caused the stress crack. Keystone approved the work, dealer ordered all required parts. Ended up being a bad weld on frame, pretty expensive repair job. The dealer did an awesome job on the repair. Cannot even tell where the they did the fix on the outside of the rig!

Also I believe important to get the right tow vehicle. I believe bigger is better. F350 Dually with 26K Reese hitch. Tows like a dream!